Looking to buy a General Lee? STAY AWAY FROM BK AUTO!! It's almost over!!!

[dkn1997]

Progress looks good jb.  your'e whole outlook on this is good too.

as far as BK goes, if he's been in business for longer than 5 minutes, then it's common sense that you don't take jobs that you have to half ass to come in at a budget.    the smart business man would realize that in the end, nobody remembers how much it cost or what a customer said, they only know that your name's on the work and it's shitty.  When this hit the fan and you went public, he should have come on here and said that he made a mistake taking the job when he didn't have the staff that could handle it and that he would make the car right for you or at least work with you.  

instead, he came up with these excuses and this "you guys don't know shit" attitude.  He assumed that this site was full of a bunch of yahoo backyard rube goldberg charger owners.  Little did he know that our members are varied and many have a huge amount of expertise in fixing and restoring these cars.

The company I work for does custom work, huge jobs that cost over 150K and have many variables.  When a customer says they don't want to do the fixes the right way or cannot afford it, we tell them to shop elsewhere.  We have lost some sales over the years, but our reputation is impeccable and that has resulted in more revenue than taking the cheapie/assbag jobs.

I have heard plenty of people come on the web and bash companies or products, only to have the company come on and at least pretend to offer an acceptable explanation and eventually a compromise of some sort so everyone can save face.  In this case, I have never heard such a load of BS as this guy is slinging.  Does this guy have any idea how much 50 or 70 thousand dollars is to the average guy?  that's a house to some people.  

[jb666]

I agree. A massive amount of money was spent (with BK) on this rebuild and now it's all got to be redone. almost every little detail of this build was done wrong. So far the ONLY thing I can say is nice about this car is it's exhaust system. Everything else, so far, has been hacked.

BK's comments of people here not knowing what they are talking about couldn't be farther from the truth. It's unreal what I've achieved BECAUSE OF the people on this forum!!!!

BK says he regrets ever getting involved with this car?? Not yet he doesn't.. 

[skip68]

  :smilielol:I'm glad you said it.     The only thing that I liked was the exhaust.    But , that was probably out of shop work.    I think that there is about 35,000 to 40,000 reasons why BK took this job.    And I'm guessing about 20,000 to 30,000 reasons why you are mad.    In the end you will have one very very nice car to be proud of.   Chuck............

[hemi-hampton]

One poroblem with that dkn1997, If I was to tell everbody I dont feel I could do a quality show car job on any car for under $100,000 how much business do you think I'd get? $100,000 Mininum would wipe out 99.9% of your customers. Then your out of Business.  The Average customer wants top pay $10-20k  That dont buy you quality on complete resto LEON.

[Ghoste]

That being said, would you charge a customer what this car went for all the while maintaining that it was a quality job?

[General_01]

I think where BK went wrong is with the dumbass way he does his paperwork. When you get into this type of resto, you need to be detailed in your receipts, detailed in what you recommend for repairs, and detailed in what the customer accepts for repairs. Lots of people are not going to be able to afford having things done the way it should be done. What shop owners need to do is document what was recommended and what the customers accepted. If I took a car in and the shop owner said "To do it right I need to do this for X amount of dollars." I say " I am just a blue collar guy. Is there another way to do the job cheaper. I am just looking to make it a solid driver." The owner says "Well, we can do it this way." I agree to it and sign off on it in writing. This way it is very apparent who is responsible for things being done the way they are.

[skip68]

   The shop that put my engine in in Ca. had me sign a work order.    And when I had them do some extra's I had to sign and ok it.  Is that the way most shops work ?  To me it seems like the best way.

[Hemidoug]

The shop doing the work preferred it this way. The metal on the upper panels is clean and they've done a lot of panels this way by choice.

The shop probably won't prefer those quarter skins anymore by the time they're done installing them.  If they've never done a 2nd-gen Charger re-quarter skinning before, they're in for an unpleasant surprise. 

Tell them to try holding up one of the replacements and compare the doorjamb area.  It won't fit the car at all; the replacement will have to be cut at the middle bodyline and bent farther than it came.  And it's probably too long in back too.  And the wheelwell flange is too wide, which few people ever actually correct when they do this job, etc . . .


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If the car was mine, I'd get the newer "full" repro quarters. 

But at the same time, just because you've bought a repro panel of a certain size, there's no law saying you have to use it all.  If the rust damage is a lot smaller than the whole panels and the current quarters are factory-originals, I'd consider cutting down a full repro quarter to just a smaller section.

Yep....welding that quarter all the way down that LOOOOONG bodyline and the work to keep it stright is a hell of a lot more then popping a few spot welds......I'd rethink that on if I were you.

[General_01]

Yes, alot of shops do that. I also bet when you got your receipt it was detailed. I bet it didn't say...

"Extra work"- $2500

[jb666]

  The shop that put my engine in in Ca. had me sign a work order.    And when I had them do some extra's I had to sign and ok it.  Is that the way most shops work ?  To me it seems like the best way.

Well, the best way + BK's way don't mix  

You're right, they should have been a bit more specific with their slips.. "$2500 for repop parts". I NEVER would have let that fly. I'm not a guy for huge long detailed slips, but that's ridiculous. All of the slips I've seen for things never even done to the car are really what get me, and for them to say "Well it left my shop with those things installed". PLEASE. Brian had the car for 2 weeks, took it for a 5 mile ride and parked it in his garage for the remainder. He WAS NOT in his garage swapping parts & draining fluids..  

Imagine this -- They are doing stuff like this on this "cheap" $50k job, imagine what they are doing with the "right method" $150k resto job?? WOW!  

[jb666]

The shop doing the work preferred it this way. The metal on the upper panels is clean and they've done a lot of panels this way by choice.

The shop probably won't prefer those quarter skins anymore by the time they're done installing them.  If they've never done a 2nd-gen Charger re-quarter skinning before, they're in for an unpleasant surprise. 

Tell them to try holding up one of the replacements and compare the doorjamb area.  It won't fit the car at all; the replacement will have to be cut at the middle bodyline and bent farther than it came.  And it's probably too long in back too.  And the wheelwell flange is too wide, which few people ever actually correct when they do this job, etc . . .


---------------------------------------------------------


If the car was mine, I'd get the newer "full" repro quarters. 

But at the same time, just because you've bought a repro panel of a certain size, there's no law saying you have to use it all.  If the rust damage is a lot smaller than the whole panels and the current quarters are factory-originals, I'd consider cutting down a full repro quarter to just a smaller section.

Yep....welding that quarter all the way down that LOOOOONG bodyline and the work to keep it stright is a hell of a lot more then popping a few spot welds......I'd rethink that on if I were you.

I'm not worried - I've seen his weld/body work. To say it's clean would be an understatement. Most quarters he's done barely need body work after!! It'll look great, and besides, you can't beat factory lines, so I want to retain as much as possible. Everything above the top quarter line is mint, so there's no reason to touch it.  Have faith, you'll like what you see 

[skip68]

Yes, alot of shops do that. I also bet when you got your receipt it was detailed. I bet it didn't say...

"Extra work"- $2500

I just looked at my receipt for my engine build.  Every nut and bolt is there down to $5 for cam bolt and $9 for 2 cans of paint.

[AKcharger]

I'd like to see more of how the rear frame rails were welded in. The way the photo shows below seem like all the stress will be focuses on the very top part of the weld.  is there plans to put "doublers" around the weld are or is it structurally sound?

[jb666]

I'd like to see more of how the rear frame rails were welded in. The way the photo shows below seem like all the stress will be focuses on the very top part of the weld.  is there plans to put "doublers" around the weld are or is it structurally sound?

Hi -- These are just in place, it's not close to being done. I'll get more info/pictures for you later this week  Thanks for the concern though 

[hemi-hampton]

Ghoste, If you go back to page 14 where I commented & posted a Pic of a B5 blue 70 cuda undercarriage on Rotiserrie I did that should answer your question. LEON.

[hemi-hampton]

Heres, what the Sub frame connectors look like from Mancini bolted in. Nothing fancy but much better then BK's. LEON.

[jb666]

Heres, what the Sub frame connectors look like from Mancini bolted in. Nothing fancy but much better then BK's. LEON.

Those are 100X nicer then BK's. I didn't get any shots of mine in, but I will this week, they are gorgeous.

[Ghoste]

Ghoste, If you go back to page 14 where I commented & posted a Pic of a B5 blue 70 cuda undercarriage on Rotiserrie I did that should answer your question. LEON.

All the way back to page 14??  It was more of a rhetorical question Leon but the picture does answer it.  What you are basically implying by that picture is that you do quality work and expect to be paid for it.  Not what BK did which was to charge a high price and deliver crap.

[hemi-hampton]

Ghoste, YES, That pretty much sums it up LEON.

[skip68]

  I have to ask.  Our engines are not centered in the car to start with.  So would'nt that make them in at an angle ?   

[jb666]

Ok, now I am really disgusted.. Today (THANK YOU BRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!) I got a huge packet in the mail. Every slip/invoice from the date this "project" started. You guys WILL NOT BELIEVE some of the stuff in here. I have to remove some personal info before I post some of this stuff, but WOW.. It's worse than I thought.. This has gone past the point of dishonesty, they flat out RIPPED HIM OFF.

[jb666]

Ok, This is the one that made me laugh (but not the worst one by far..)

See below this image:



Item #1,2,3 & 4 - FINE

Item#5 - 11/16 Tie Rod Kit - This is almost too funny to talk about. The ball joints and tie rods literally FELL OUT of the car. They did not need tools to remove!! 100% stock PAINTED PARTS. $210? Wow, easy money for a can of Krylon.

Item#6 - They don't exist. I PUT HD Springs in the car, but these things were stock/painted.

Item#7 - STOCK/PAINTED

Item#8 - LCA Bushing R&R - How does one R&R a bushing? Oh, I see how you did it, you painted the stock bushings and charged $50.00 - Another expensive can of Krylon.

Amount of $$ scammed from this ONE INVOICE - $705.00

[jb666]

Ok, this one will have two images. Notice BK charged twice for the same Battery Terminals (under the hood) for the remote kit.




Royal Purple -- 12 Quarts?? $100.67? NEVER PUT IN THIS MOTOR, PERIOD.

Transmission lines? ORIGINAL - $260.00

Accelerator Linkage & Throttle Linkage -- ? Two invoices, same item??

[jb666]

You guys will LOVE this one.. Check out the original Contract Agreement. What a joke.

I boxed in some of the highlights.

6 months to complete 

"restore the base vehicle to original body condition"  I didn't know the factory fiberglassed their rear frame rails 

".... will inspect and go over the safety issues"  I think they all took that day off.

"complete rust removal, frame preparation and undercoating, welding if necessary".  Why weld when you have BONDO, it works just as well!!

[jb666]

Nahhhhhhhhhhhh, we don't double bill, that's ridiculous!!

A quote:


----- Original Message -----
From: BK Automotive LLC
To: JB666
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: re:


And so you dont have to ask, I'll be more than happy to set time aside on Sat and go through the entire billing invoice with you line by line if you want. We stay busy, I don't need to invent charges.


BK Automotive LLC
www.bkauto.net
713.996.9655

PROOF Double billed for the "performance dipstick", which is nothing more then a $15 AutoZone special. Less then 3 months apart, too!! No wonder Brian was getting pretty pissed at this point. BK even threatened to put a lien on the car if he didn't stop questioning and pay!! They were even so inconsistent with things they put two totally different prices down!!





One funny thing, on this bottom invoice, $275.94 for the alternator. It was a cheap POS $100 alternator from CarQuest. Nothing fancy about it. I had it yanked for a 1-wire 100AMP alternator that could do the job, this thing wouldn't even maintain a charge!!